Kashmir Fast Facts

Here's a look at what you need to know about Kashmir, a region in the Himalaya and Karakoram mountains. India, Pakistan and China all claim partial or complete ownership of Kashmir.

Facts:Kashmir is an 86,000-square mile region in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent .

The separatist violence has killed more than 43,000 people, but some human rights groups and nongovernmental organizations put the death toll at twice that amount.

India and Pakistan have been fighting over Kashmir since both countries gained their independence in 1947.

The Line of Control separating Indian- and Pakistani-controlled parts of Kashmir is 435 miles (700 km) long.

India-controlled: One state, called Jammu and Kashmir, makes up the southern and eastern portions of the region, totaling about 45% of Kashmir.

Pakistan-controlled: Three areas called Azad Kashmir, Gilgit and Baltistan make up the northern and western portions of the region, totaling about 35% of Kashmir.

China-controlled: One area called Aksai Chin in the northeastern part of the region, equaling 20% of Kashmir.

India also alleges Pakistan has ceded 3,220 square miles in Kashmir to China.

Srinagar is the summer capital city in Jammu and Kashmir state. Jammu is the winter capital.

The capital of Azad Kashmir is Muzaffarabad.

Timeline:August 15, 1947 - India and Pakistan gain independence from Great Britain. Kashmir never chooses to be a part of either Pakistan or India. Eventually Maharaja Hari Singh, Kashmir's ruler, signs a letter acceding to India. Pakistan does not recognize this letter as a legal document.

October 27, 1947 - Kashmir becomes part of India.

January 1949 - India and Pakistan go to war over Kashmir and finally agree to withdraw all troops behind a mutually agreed ceasefire line, later known as the Line of Control.

August 5, 1965 - India and Pakistan go to war again over Kashmir. Pakistan invades Indian held Kashmir, but the fighting produces little territorial gain for Pakistan.

1971 - Fighting erupts again as part of the Indo-Pak war.

July 1972 - The Simla Agreement ends the fighting and establishes the Line of Control between Indian controlled Kashmir and Pakistan controlled Kashmir. The two sides continue to argue over the border.

1989 - Islamic militants begin an uprising in Indian controlled Kashmir. Tens of thousands of people have been killed.

1999 - India and Pakistan fight a limited border conflict in Kashmir, after armed invaders cross the Line of Control in the town of Kargil.

July 25, 2000 - Hizbul Mujahedeen, a pro-Pakistan Kashmiri militant group, declares a unilateral cease fire for three months in Jammu and Kashmir.

August 8, 2000 - Hizbul Mujahedeen calls off its two-week-old ceasefire and orders its forces to resume fighting against Indian troops.

May 23, 2001 - India ends a six-month military ceasefire against Islamic guerillas in Kashmir while also inviting Pakistani military ruler, General Pervez Musharraf, to peace talks aimed at ending five decades of hostilities between the two countries.

July 14-16, 2001 - Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee meet in Agra, India for a three-day summit. The talks fail to produce a joint statement on Kashmir.

December 20, 2001 - The Indian army deploys troops on its border with Pakistan in the northern states of Kashmir and Punjab after an attack by militants (India says they were from across the border) on the Indian Parliament building. Pakistani troops also buildup across the frontier.

January 2002 - General Musharraf of Pakistan outlaws the three main Pakistani-based Islamic militant groups.

October 2002 - Four rounds of polls to choose a new state administration conclude in Indian-controlled Kashmir. About 300-500 people are killed during the election campaign.

November 2003 - India agrees to a Pakistani offer of a ceasefire along their borders in the disputed region of Kashmir. The ceasefire goes into effect November 26 and is the first ceasefire in 14 years.

January 4, 2004 - India's Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee meets with Pakistan's president Pervez Musharraf in Islamabad for a one-hour meeting. It is their first direct contact in two years.

June 2004 - India and Pakistan's foreign secretaries meet for talks, the first detailed discussions between the two countries in six years.

November 14, 2006 - Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shanker Menon and his Pakistani counterpart, Riaz Mohammed Khan meet in New Delhi, India for peace talks. The main topic of discussion is finding ways to implement a proposed anti-terror mechanism that both countries have agreed to set up.

March 13, 2007 - Top Pakistani and Indian diplomats meet in Islamabad. Topics include improving conditions for hundreds of prisoners in each others' jails and relaxing visa restrictions.

March 28, 2008 - Human rights workers find nearly 1,000 unmarked graves near the Line of Control, the border that divides Pakistani- and Indian-controlled portions of Kashmir. Hundreds of protestors in Indian Kashmir clash with police on April 25, demanding an investigation into the graves.

October 21, 2008 - India and Pakistan open a trade route for the first time in six decades on the Line of Control in Kashmir. Fruit, clothing and spices are among the items being transported.

Summer 2010 - Violence erupts in Kashmir and kills more than 100 people, the worst bloodshed in a decade.

January 14, 2011 - India's home secretary announces that India will cut a fourth of its security forces in Kashmir over the next 12 months.